Chapter Four

The scent of ash and smoke encapsulated me on the long drive toward my target. My dragon didn't mind the warehouse or even my bedroom at the compound because only a few steps away lay acres and acres of lands and mountains where he could spread his wings and blow fire all he wanted as long as he didn't cause a forest fire.

He didn't, however, have any peace of mind about riding with me in a car. No SUV big enough. No matter how long or short the drive was. He despised the closed space and when I denied him his demand to be free of this moving piece of machinery, he pushed out his rage through my pores until I was a walking, talking, killing lump of coal. At least, I smelled like one.

"You're going to get out soon. Then we're going to fly and burn some very bad people to the ground," I addressed my beast as I turned from the paved highway onto a dirt road. I used a paper map instead of GPS. I wanted no trail for the human police, if ever I was to get caught. And paper burned—quickly.

He huffed a puff of smoke through my human nostrils, making me sputter and cough in response.

"Stop that. Oh…we're close. I can smell them." While I scented no one in particular, there were other signs in the air. The tang of spilled blood. The rot of sweat and unwashed skin. The alpha pheromones heavy and musky.

Another scent, loamy and sweet, laced with the more unpleasant smells, but it was barely noticeable.

They had probably had an omega or two imprisoned down there.

I walked to the edge of the road and across the valley expanse. Between the pine trees and almost out of sight, lay a small cabin. It would appear abandoned to the eyes of humans and anyone else who happened to spot it. No curtains in the windows. No forgotten cups on the porch. The only sign of life was a rusty, older truck.

My focus moved to the skies. Not a single cloud to be seen and the sun slowly faded into the background. I waited on that perch above my target until the sun bowed out for the evening and dusk emerged. The perfect time to fly in and complete my mission.

No cars on the highway. Not a human anywhere near.

No one expected an attack as they sat down to their dinner.

I shed my clothes after tucking myself into the line of trees on the off chance someone would drive by. The clothes were tossed into my car, and my dragon's wings sizzled between my shoulder blades, ready to tear through my skin.

My gaze darted to the back of the car where a giant black duffle bag lay. At times, my dragon and his volcanic breath wouldn't be a fit for the job, and I needed to use the guns that lay inside it.

Today wasn't one of those days.

I cried out as I gave permission for my body to phase from human to dragon. Some of the others on our team claimed they had no pain when shifting, not since the first time, but my dragon clawed his way to the front of our consciousness with rage and murderous power.

The slicing agony had lessened over the years, but it still hurt like a mutha.

My wings flapped, using the air beneath as a push-off to fly. Once I soared into the air, only a matter of minutes passed before I hovered above the dilapidated cabin, waiting for the ants to flee the hill.

Only two breaths later, five alphas ran out in various states of dress. They shouted at first, looking around. Perhaps they heard my wings or felt the power of my dragon—either way, they'd made themselves easy targets.

This was the part I hated. No matter how evil these people were. No matter how much I knew the levels of abuse they had inflicted on innocent omegas, I didn't like ending another living thing's life.

My dragon, on the other hand, didn't mind one bit.

Cutting out his enemies with a breath of hell was written on his bones, a pyrography of rage.

My dragon reeled back, feeling the heat rise up from the middle of his chest, its temperature and fury gaining strength as it pulsed upward into our neck and then our mouth.

The pathetic alphas pointed guns at our form. They shot bullet after bullet in a stupid method of defending themselves. I rolled my eyes in my holding place as my dragon retained control. Bullets or swords—those weapons had no chance against my thick, scales. The tiny metal points simply pinged against the shields all over me and dropped to the ground, useless.

I'd opened my mouth to turn them all to ash when another person came from the back of the cabin.

Everything stopped. The world. My fire. My wings. My existence.

The omega's scent punched me right in the gut and took the wind from under my form.

Not just any omega. My omega. My mate. I'd scented him before, after Hammer and our team rescued the other omegas and Hammer's own mate from the breeding mansion, but I chose in that split second to let him go—let him have a life without an assassin mate.

Because choosing me meant choosing death.

Fuck. I had to do this another way. No matter how much I knew I could never have this precious male in my life, didn't mean I wouldn't protect him with what was left of mine.

I landed on the ground with a thud. The Earth shook beneath the force of my feet. My claws dug into the dirt for anchors.

Turning on the alphas who were still shooting at me, I whisked my barbed tail at them, taking out the lot with one swipe. Not the most fun way of handling things, but I wouldn't risk my mate.

I bowed my large head to my mate who stood, wide-eyed, with his fists balled at his sides. I had never seen him, really, but his scent was one I would never forget.

He was thin, bruises on his face and arms. He was dressed in rags and had limped out of the cabin.

Now my dragon wanted to turn those fuckers to ash even more.

But we had priorities higher up the list.

I laid my head in front of the omega—a submission to him and his presence, but also in an attempt to make myself less intimidating.

Climb on. We have to get out of here, omega.

This man was the precious fate I'd craved all my life and yet, I didn't know his name. He backed up a few steps. I watched his Adam's apple bob as he took a big gulp. All of this had to be scary for him, but I needed him to move—and now.

I blew a bit of smoke out of my nostrils, trying to tear him from his stupor. It worked.

"You want me to get on you and fly?" he said, his voice, cooling tendrils that weaved its path through my fire and rage, making an arrow right into my heart.

Another breath of smoke.

He turned around and looked at the cabin. "You know what? You're big and scary, but I'd do anything to leave this hell."